CRAFT students and teachers present at the Vermont Pollinator Working Group Conference

The Vermont Pollinator Working Group invited the CRAFT (Community and Climate Resilience through Agriculture, Forestry, and Technology) Program to present about native plant and pollinator work as part of the education track at their annual conference. The Working Group is a collaboration of nonprofits, farmers, gardeners, and policy makers working to tackle threats to pollinators in Vermont and the Northeast and is looking to expand its education initiatives. 

On Friday morning, Students Maya Sluka and Schuyler Hagge along with teachers Abbie Castriotta and Samantha DeCuollo traveled to the conference at UVM where they listened to lightning talks and connected with folks doing pollinator work around the state. The CRAFT program kicked off the education presentations in the afternoon. They described the importance of pollinators and native plants in public education, how the work fits into the curriculum across many subjects and grade levels, their participation in real-world community science projects, and the joy that this place-based work brings to students. After listening to the other presentations, the group participated in a discussion on how the Working Group may be able to support pollinator education initiatives across the state. Conference attendees were inspired by the CRAFT students' work and ideas.

Schuyler Hagge and Maya Sluka